Volunteer Sandi Gardner gives Dakota a carrot and some TLC at the Retirement Home for Horses at Mill Creek Farm. The 42-year-old quarterhorse mare was mistreated before she was rescued by the South Florida SPCA and went to live at the farm in 1998.

Volunteer Sandi Gardner gives Dakota a carrot and some TLC at the Retirement Home for Horses at Mill Creek Farm. The 42-year-old quarterhorse mare was mistreated before she was rescued by the South Florida SPCA and went to live at the farm in 1998. (Susan Jacobson, Orlando Sentinel)

The Retirement Home for Horses provides lifetime care to horses seized, rescued, retired from government service, used by handicapped riding programs, the circus or in experiments.The farm is open to visitors on Saturdays. Alachua, FL 32616, 386-462-1001, millcreekfarm.org